BBC Political Correspondent John Kampfner: The Tories will do all they can to stop the bill

Ministers are using the guillotine mechanism, which limits debating time for MPs, to ensure the measure passes all its stages in the lower house in one day.

Home Secretary Jack Straw accused Tory peers of an "abuse of parliament" in blocking the bill last session.

But Shadow Home Secretary Norman Fowler said there was no example of a guillotine motion being given only four hours for debate. It was "the most severe guillotine that has ever been introduced".

Madness blamed

Mr Straw said this was because no previous administration had "gone through the madness the current opposition is currently affected with".

He added: "They have only themselves to blame for the fact that they have torn apart fundamental mechanisms of the constitution."

Liberal Democrat Richard Allan said his party was siding with the government because the key issues were debated at length the last time.

He said they supported the bill because the greater proportionality of closed lists was an advance in itself.

During the bill's second reading stage, Mr Straw admitted no electoral system was perfect but this system balanced the advantages the best for European elections.

The use of the guillotine motion follows an unprecedented clash at the end of the last parliamentary session, when Lords voted against the European Elections Bill five times.

The government has said it will use the Parliament Act to press the elections bill through - overruling the Lords.

The Home Office says the legislation must be on the statute book by mid-January at the latest if June's European elections are to be held under the new "closed lists" system.

If the bill is not passed quickly, the vote could have to be held under the existing first-past-the-post system.

Under "closed lists", voters are offered only a choice of parties on the ballot papers, not named candidates. The parties would choose their own nominees.